LGF execs Michael Burns and Jon Feltheimer ringing the "antibell" last year at the New York Stock Exchange (Photo: NYSE)

I have developed sort of a soft spot for Lions Gate Films, which unfortunately makes me as susceptible to its hyperbolic bullshit as I am to its budding hegemonic charm. And waking up to the news that my new buddy spent part of Monday in New York modeling its fall collection of euphemisms and random-sounding numbers does not make things any easier on me:

Billing itself as "the antistudio," Lions Gate has methodically built a business by exploiting such niches as horror, teen comedies and urban-artsy pics as well as cable TV dramas like The Dead Zone, fitness videos and Barbie products. ...

Lions Gate's (vice chairman Michael) Burns ... outlined how his company has maneuvered in just six years to own and control content in a world in which distribution platforms keep multiplying.

And the best, Burns suggested, is yet to come.

To his mind there are several more hot prospects on the Lions Gate roster: horror pic Hostel, which debuts Dec. 21 and that he called "really horrifying," and, bowing later in the winter, Akeelah and the Bee -- "the best movie we've ever done," Burns hazarded.

He also said the highly publicized dip in DVD sales that's afflicted the sector hasn't been much of a factor for his 8,000-title catalog.

"We still see a lot of upside from our library, which is bringing in $200 million in revenues annually. For a title like Dirty Dancing, we sell 100,000 DVDs a month," Burns said by way of illustration. ...

Asked if anything much changed with the new players on the indie film scene like the Weinstein Co. and HBO-New Line's Picturehouse, Burns said Lions Gate typically manages to land 80% of the titles it goes after -- and not (unlike some, apparently) by overpaying for buzz titles at film fests.

First of all, how great a nickname is "the antistudio"? We already know that LGF is big on "antimovies" like Beyond the Sea and The Punisher--some of which even make great money despite being relatively unwatchable--and that its lowball acquisitions strategy has resulted in the stunning "antideal" to buy its coveted Image Entertainment.

Setting all that aside, however, I think the real reason I have such a crush on Lions Gate stems from Burns' throwing around "antistatistics" like Dirty Dancing selling "100,000 DVD's a month," or that LGF "(lands) 80 percent of the titles it goes after." I mean, this is not Joe McCarthy waving a list of 205 communists in the State Department, but how does anybody quantify an 80 percent acquisitions success rate? Moreover, am I really supposed to believe LGF sells 100,000 copies of Dirty Dancing every month? Or 1.2 million per year? I think this is what Burns might call "antipossible."

Of course, that hype job on Hostel and Akeelah and the Bee is a pretty severe "antistudio" move, as well. Harvey Weinstein would never talk himself up like that in public.